A Chance of Redemption
by Deviox
Summary: Left on a dying alien world, Suzume passes away. She assumed that she would only be worthy of hell, but when Eiki Shiki finds herself unable to judge the alien, Suzume is instead sent to live on Gensokyo, as a second chance at life.


Breathing was getting difficult again. Shame that I'll have to make this filter last a bit longer. Holding back a sigh, I check outside to see sand still flying around. I've been in this cave for a week too long. Perhaps an eternal sandstorm is what this planet's future is. Returning back to my campfire, I check the can sit directly in the fire. That'll do.

I lift off my gas mask to start eating my meal. I don't know how much longer I'm going to survive. I'm praying to whatever sick deity that let this happen for there to be food and filters left in the next town. I let my mind wander while I eat. It's been, what, two years since I've seen anything alive. Shit, I forgot to set my timer. I reach over to my bag to see that my watch has given out. Holding back yet another sigh, I throw the watch aside. I quickly eat up the rest of my meal and quickly put the mask back on. I take a deep breath of the musky air the mask provides me.

I run my hands on the hard stone wall behind me, remembering my actions ever since this has started. I could have stopped it. Hell, my life and soul would have given what would stay some form of, I don't know, peace? All the people I've killed just so I could live. I'm just a selfish soul. The gates of hell will open wide for me, its owner taking me in with open arms.

I could end it all now actually. All I have to do is take off this mask long enough for the poison in the air to kill me. It would be long, slow, and painful, but it would be an ending befitting me. Hell, I'm out of filters, and this one is probably already leaking in. I sift through my bag again, and find my bottle of sleeping pills. I empty what remains of to my hand, and see three remaining. I lift off the mask and throw it aside. I won't be needing it anymore. I down the pills and rest my head back on the cave wall. The pills work quickly.

I awaken slowly to see a redhead staring at me. "Killing yourself was stupid." She said. I try to rub my eyes, only to find myself unable to. She pulls a wooden pole from her side, no, wait, it's a Scythe! So Death is a girl, a red-headed, pigtailed girl with a huge Rack. "Normally, here would be the part where I'd take the fee, but my boss told me to bring you over with haste, so I guess you're getting a free ride." She returns her Scythe to where it was, leaving me to feel a change in momentum.

I quickly check my surroundings. The first thing I notice is that, except for the girl, everything is grayscale. Taking a look down, it seems that I'm on a sort of boat, which means I'm on a river. A huge river too. "Geez, this is going to take forever." Death said, in an annoying manner. "Well, since we have a long trip ahead of us, I might as well introduce myself. I am Komachi Onozuka, farrier of the dead."

I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. I try to reach for my throat, only to find myself unable to move my arms again. "I see." Komachi says. "Well, Welcome aboard the Titanic, Suzume." Komachi said, almost as if I actually said something. "Oh, confused are you? Well, I'm sure it will all make sense in due time."

As the boat ran ashore, I was greeted with a vast expanse of an endless garden. "Welcome to Higan. Your judge, Eiki Shiki is waiting for you." Komachi helped me off of the boat, and pointed me in a direction. I found myself unable to walk, yet, I moved forward never the less.

Soon, I see a small woman, holding a metal slab. I assume that she was Eiki Shiki. As I draw closer, I inspect the woman more. She has green short green hair, a dark blue hat with gold on it. The gold has words written in a foreign language. She wears a Blue, Black and White dress. It all comes together to show of someone of very important significance.

"Suzume Michishun. Last of a race that has since forgotten its name. You are here to be Judged." The woman said, her voice full of power. "Will you go to Heaven, Hell, The Netherworld, or will you be reincarnated?" The answer was clear to me. Hell. "I am here to judge you and decide your true worth."

"The list of your crimes is truly a long one. Countless accounts of Murder, Theft, Conspiring against your partners are but a few of your sins." The judge proclaimed, as all sorts of foreign words appear on the metal slab. Wait, is it getting heavier? She then dropped it, and it landed with a very loud thud. "Lift the weight of your sins."

I bend over to pick it up, my arms finally responding. As I grab it, I try to pull up, but it feels as though it's bolted to the floor. "Those who are unable to lift their own sins are not worth Heaven." Eiki then bends over and picks up the slab of metal herself and places it on a large-scale. Wait, where did that scale come from? The white side rockets up.

I inspect the scale. It appears to be made of pure gold one container is colored deep, dark black, the other is bright, shining white. My judge speaks up, grabbing my attention. "Stare forth into yourself. What do you see?" Eiki is now holding a mirror to me. I stare into it, seeing nothing but clouds. I stare at it for a few more seconds, until I see a dreadful memory.

"I… I want my mommy!" The little boy I'm hugging shouts. I gently rock the kid, rubbing his back.

"Shhh…" I coax him. "Shh. Everything will be alright." I lie. I remember the gun to my side. I can't support a kid as it currently is. But if I abandon him, I'll just be leaving him to die by the wolfs in this forest. I look at the two corpses lying next to us. One a man, another a woman.

The boy sniffs, tears raining from his eyes harder than it is outside. "But, but…"

"Shh, I'll take you to see your parents, okay?" I say, knowing what my next course of action is going to be. I'll just have to make it fast. "I'm sorry." I apologize.

"F-for what?" the boy asks innocently.

"This." I sab the boy in the heart, and the boy's body instantly goes limp. I get a stronger grip on the boy, and slowly lay him down, next to his parents. Tears are now rolling down my eyes. Closing my eyes, I run my fingers down the boy's and his parents.

I feel tears of regret rolling down my eyes. My judge stares hard at me. "One who both truly and greatly regrets their actions, are not worth of Hell." Eiki places the mirror on the scale, opposite of my sins. The scale tilts slightly more evenly, still greatly in favor of my sins however.

"Your actions over the last 28 years have been nothing but selfish. Those who act selfish are not worthy of the Netherworld." Eiki calls out, unevening the scale further. "However, there is one last thing we must inspect before we can truly decide if you're worthy of reincarnation. Circumstance."

The judge walks towards me. "The circumstances in which you performed your actions can greatly affect the weight of your sins." She then glares deeply into me. "You were on a dying world, left with very few choices of survival." I suddenly hear the scale creek. "Left in a dog-eat-dog world. Kill or be killed. Survival of the fittest." The scale creeks more and more, yet find myself unable to look away from the woman in front of me.

"Those are the circumstances you lived under, making you unworthy of immediate reincarnation." Finally, I find myself able to look at the scale, unable to decide which side was heavier. "You're filled with both black and white. Far too much of both for me to come to a proper verdict. I am left with but one, rarely treaded upon option. To return you to the living." Eiki Shiki then walks behind me. "But the same circumstances that have left me to my judgement is also leaving me unable to send you to where your sentence would normally be held out."

"As such, I must send you to where a world where all that is forgotten remains. Gensokyo."


End file.
